What if Wishful Thinking
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if Sam made a wish?  Spoilers for the rest of season 4 and The Devil You Know.  Chapter 5 of 5 up.
1. Teaser

What if Sam made a wish?

"Come on what would Sammy wish for?" Dean insisted, shoving the coin in his brother's hand.

Sam closed his eyes and silently made his wish, "I wish I could go back to the beginning to fix everything." As he dropped the coin, he had a sudden fear that he was about to become a baby. That would be the beginning.

He noticed a change in atmosphere and opened his eyes. He looked around and immediately recognized his surroundings.

"Sam. Sam, are you coming?"

Sam rushed to the other room. "Jessica?" he asked, in disbelief. Was this where he could set everything right? He wished he had included knowledge of what to do in his wish.

"We're going to be late. And where's your costume?" Jessica asked. She had heard Sam's diatribe on Halloween countless times, but he never really explained why he hated it so much. And he needed to loosen up once in a while.

"Jessica, let's go away for the weekend," Sam said.

"Sam, we can't. You have that interview on Monday."

"Forget the interview."

"Look, I know you're nervous. A lot is riding on that interview, but that's why we should go out and have fun tonight," Jessica said.

"No, you don't understand. We should leave."

"Sam, no. You're going to be fine. And I'm not going to enable your panic, so if you leave for the weekend, I'm not going with you," Jessica said. She didn't know what was going on. This wasn't like Sam. But he was under a lot of pressure. He didn't have any money, so if he didn't get a serious scholarship, there was no way he was going to be able to go to law school.

"Fine, let's go out," Sam sighed. If Jessica refused to go with him, there wasn't much point in leaving town.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"How did I get here?" Sam asked. He was looking around. He didn't even know where he was. "I have to go back home." Whatever was going on, it probably had something to do with his father trying to pull him back to the family and hunting.

"Home? You mean the motel?"

"No, my apartment. Where are we? Jessica's going to be pissed." She would probably think he was just trying to get out of Halloween.

"Jessica?" Dean asked, wondering and worrying about Sam's wish.

"My girlfriend," Sam said and started heading out the door.

"Hold on two minutes, Sam. Please, just two minutes," Dean said as he noticed an odd coin at the bottom of the well.

"Fine," Sam said. It would help if Dean would tell him where he was. Help even more if he would give him a ride back home. In light of that, two minutes wasn't much to wait.

Dean bent down and tried to pick up the coin. It wouldn't budge. It felt like it was welded down. It had to be that coin that was making the wishing well work. He grabbed a piece of paper and made a rubbing of it.

"OK, let's go," Dean said and grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him outside. "What did you wish?"

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked. "I was standing in my apartment, dreading going out for Halloween, and then I'm standing next to you. What did you do to get me here?"

Dean sighed. "Do you think it's 2005?"

"Duh," Sam rolled his eyes.

"Sammy, it's 2008," Dean said.

"So, what? I time travelled here?" Sam asked.

"No, I think you just wished to forget the last 3 years," Dean said.

"Why would I do that? And just because I wished it, why would it happen?" Sam asked.

"Because the last 3 years sucked. And because that wishing well has been actually granting wishes because of this coin," he said holding up the paper. "But, we're going to figure it out and reverse the wishes and stop it." Dean almost didn't want to. This was like having his old brother back, and he didn't want to lose him.


	2. Stanford

Sam lay next to Jessica holding her. He had missed this. He hadn't realized how much lately. He was waiting for her to fall asleep and then he had work to do. Soon, he felt her breathing steadily and knew she was sleeping. He wasn't quite ready to leave her yet, though, so he just lay there for ten more minutes. But, he didn't like being this exposed, when he knew she was a target, so he eased himself up, so he wouldn't wake her and tiptoed out to the other room.

He went into the kitchen and got some salt. He started laying the salt lines at the windows. He knew Jessica would wonder why they were there, but he would worry about that tomorrow. He had to keep that Yellow-Eyed Demon out.

He went to salt the door and he heard scratching on the other side. He assumed it must be Dean. He flung open the door, surprising his brother who was in the midst of picking the lock.

"Ever hear of knocking?" Sam asked.

"Sorry. Look, we need to talk," Dean said. He was thrown a little off balance. He hadn't expected Sam to open the door for him. He had figured he was rusty and he would have to go in his bedroom and wake him up. Then he was going to give him grief for being rusty. His whole plan was shot to hell.

"Yeah, I know. Dad's missing and you want me to help find him. But I can't," Sam said.

"How did you know that and why not?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I can't leave right now, though, because Jessica's in danger," Sam whispered.

"Who's Jessica?"

As if on cue, Jessica came into the room and switched the light on. "Sam, what's going on?"

"Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," Sam said, choosing to answer Dean's question.

"Your brother Dean?" Jessica asked. Sam didn't talk about his family much, but when he did, his face lit up at the stories he would tell about Dean. She was excited to meet him.

"You are way out of my brother's league," Dean smiled as he approached Jessica. "I love the Smurfs," he added, commenting on her nightware.

"Let me change," Jessica said. She wanted to get to know Dean. She was sure they had something they could offer him and they could sit up and talk for a while.

"Actually, Jess, could you excuse us while we go outside to talk?" Sam asked.

"Sure," Jessica said, disappointed. But then she figured whenever they talked about what Sam didn't want her hearing, they would both come back up. She decided to get dressed.

"Sammy, what's going on? Why do you think your girlfriend is in danger?" Dean asked. "Obviously something supernatural, I saw the salt lines you laid down."

"You'll think I'm crazy," Sam said. He didn't figure Dean would stick around to help anyway. He would want to go and find Dad.

"What could you possibly say that I would think is crazy?" Dean asked.

"Fine. We found a wishing well that actually worked," Sam began.

"You and Jessica?" Dean asked. Sam was right. That was crazy. But, he would wait to hear the rest of the story. After all, he had to talk him into helping him find Dad.

"No. You and me.'

"When?" Dean asked.

"Today, or 3 years from now, depending on how you look at it," Sam answered.

"What?" Dean asked.

"We found a wishing well that worked and I wished that I could go back to the beginning and change everything. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in the apartment I shared with Jessica. She's going to die Sunday night. I have to figure out a way to protect her."

"What kills her?" Dean asked, in spite of himself. He didn't want to get drawn into Sam's craziness. He wanted to find their dad. But if there was any possibility that Sam was telling the truth, he needed to stay and help Sam. Because, if something was coming for Jessica Sunday night, Sam would be in the line of fire.

"A demon. The same demon that killed Mom," Sam answered.

"How do you know a demon killed Mom?" Dean asked. Last he checked, Dad had no idea what had killed Mom. And if Dad didn't know, there was certainly no way Sammy could know.

"Because I'm from three years in the future, and believe me, a lot happens between now and then."

"How does Jessica die?" Dean asked.

"Same way as Mom. She burns on the ceiling."

"But she doesn't die until Sunday night, right? We should go find Dad and he can help," Dean said. That would solve both their problems.

"I don't know where Dad is, but I know he's not in Jericho," Sam answered.

Dean realized that up until now, he hadn't really believed anything Sam had said. But there was no way Sam could have known where he was headed.

"Is he dead?" Dean asked. He had been half afraid of that since he hadn't been able to get hold of him.

"No. He's looking for the demon. We won't find him for almost a year," Sam said. "You should go to Jericho and finish up his hunt, though." Sam wouldn't be able to live with himself if he messed up the hunts they had already taken care of.

"But, I can't leave you here," Dean protested.

"You can take care of this quick. It's a woman in white named Constance Welch. She's buried behind her old house," Sam searched his memory, trying to remember the name of the road. "I don't remember where it is, but you should be able to figure that out quick enough."

"Alright. I'll be back tomorrow," Dean promised. It was his job to protect Sam, and he never took that responsibility lightly. Not even now that he wasn't "part of the family" anymore.


	3. Discoveries

Dean was looking up the symbol on the internet. He finally found it. "I found it. Long story short, we need to find the person who made the first wish and they have to wish it back."

"Where's Jessica?" Sam asked.

Sam was going to get his memories back soon. Dean wanted to give him the few hours he had left. "You guys broke up. She found out about hunting."

"Oh," Sam said. He would have thought Jess would have understood. No, he didn't really think that. That's why he had never told her. But at least she was probably happy with some normal guy. She was probably better off without him.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's working a different job. We split up once in a while so we can cover more ground."

"What's he hunting?" Sam asked.

"Woman in white," Dean said, picking the case they first started looking for him.

"What happened that I want to forget?" Sam asked. Sure, breaking up with Jessica sucked, but if it happened three years ago, it seemed weird that he would still be so tormented by it that he would wish to forget it.

"You still just really hate hunting. Wishing for your normal life. All that," Dean said. "We'll try to figure out who the first wisher is tomorrow. Let's go get a beer."

"OK," Sam agreed. He hadn't seen his brother in four years. There was that one drunken phone call two years ago, but that was about it. He missed him, even if he didn't miss hunting.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"What did your brother want?" Jessica asked the next morning. She was disappointed that he hadn't come back up with Sam. She wanted to get to know Sam's family. She was pretty sure he was going to ask her to marry him soon.

"Just some family drama," Sam said. "What are you doing today?" Sam hoped she was going to be busy. He knew what he had to do to save her.

"Becca wanted to go shopping today, but we don't have to," Jessica said.

"No. That's great. I'm meeting with an interview coach to help me with the interview on Monday. It will probably take most of the day."

"OK. See you tonight?" Jess asked, as she kissed him good-bye.

"You bet," Sam smiled.

He hurried out after she left and went out and bought the supplies he would need. Then he went to find an abandoned warehouse. He soon found one and drew a devil's trap. He performed the ritual that Ruby taught him that would bring the nearest demon, host and all.

"Brady?" Sam asked in disbelief when his best friend appeared in front of him.

"You called?" Brady asked as he looked down and realized he was in a devil's trap

"How long have you been possessed?" Sam asked.

"Since sophomore year," Brady admitted. He wasn't sure what was going on. Last he knew Sam was playing the mild-mannered law student. If the situation had changed, Yellow Eyes hadn't apprised him.

"Sophomore year?" Sam asked in disbelief. Then it all became crystal clear. Brady had introduced him to Jessica. He wasn't sure why, but he knew the demons had engineered their meeting as well as her death.

"What do you want, Sam? I'm kind of busy."

"I'm just going to drink your blood," Sam said, fishing out the knife he had brought for that purpose.

"What?" Brady asked. Sam wasn't supposed to know about demon blood—not yet.

Sam was done talking. He knocked Brady out, cut him and started drinking. He had to drink all of him. He didn't have powers yet, had only had a couple of dreams. He figured he would need a lot of blood. This was more than he had ever drunk.

He momentarily felt guilty. He had promised Dean that he was done with the psychic stuff, but he was pretty sure Dean would understand. Encourage this, even. If he killed the yellow-eyed demon, not only would he save Jessica, he would be saving their dad and Dean's soul. It was for the greater good.

It took him a few hours to finish drinking Brady, but when he was done he felt more powerful than he ever had. Certainly, more powerful than he had in the past couple of months since he had given the blood up. He took Brady's body out back and burned it and then went back to his apartment to wait. The demon wouldn't show up until tomorrow night.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean found out where Constance Welch was buried. Sam's information had certainly saved a lot of leg work. He quickly dug her up (in broad daylight, since he wanted to finish this fast), and burned her bones. He would have to assume that would take care of it. He wanted to get back to protect Sam from this demon he was talking about.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

"I think I figured out who the first wisher was," Dean announced and held up the newspaper announcing Geek Boy and Hot Girl's engagement.

"OK," Sam said. He hadn't hunted for a while. He was pretty rusty, but it sounded like they were just dealing with people, so he should be OK.

They drove over to their house, only to find out that they had gone out of town and would be back tomorrow.

"Great," Dean said sarcastically. "We should go stake out the wishing well and make sure nobody else makes any wishes."

"How are we going to do that?" Sam asked. He pictured Dean tackling people approaching the well with coins. He smiled at the thought.

"What?" Dean asked. He hadn't seen Sam smile in a long time. He missed it.

"Nothing. Just imagining you tackling potential wishers."

Dean laughed. "That's an idea."


	4. Sunday

Sam spent all Sunday with Jessica. They'd started out just laying in bed all morning, talking. Sam let Jessica do most of the talking, as he was a little rusty on "current events." Then they had gone out for lunch, taken a walk, gone to the movies.

When they got back home around 7:00 they found Dean waiting for them.

"You're back," Jessica said.

"Yep."

"You take care of that thing?" Sam asked.

"Sure did," Dean answered.

"Want something to drink?" Jessica asked.

"Beer would be great," Dean answered.

"Be right back," she said, and headed off to the kitchen. She was kind of wondering how he had got in. They must have forgotten to lock the door.

"What are you doing back here, Dean?" Sam asked. He was a little nervous about Dean seeing him use his psychic thing. He had to get rid of him.

"Here to help you protect Jessica," Dean whispered.

"Thanks," Sam said. He should have known that Dean wouldn't let him face this alone. Even though they hadn't been together the last few years, this was before the distance had been created between them. The distance Dean had created by not wanting to talk about Hell.

"So, Dean, what do you do?" Jessica asked when she came back with the beer.

"I'm a mechanic," Dean answered. Sam had been half afraid he would tell the truth. He wasn't sure why. They never did.

"Like your Dad," Jessica said.

Dean was impressed. Sam must actually talk about them once in a while. He wasn't sure if he would have or not. He was pretty mad at Dad when he left.

"Yeah, our Dad taught me everything I know," Dean said. He was worried about him, but Sam had assured him he was alive and he would be almost a year from now.

"That's great. My dad's into old cars and he used to try to teach me about them, but I was never really into it. I think he wished I was a boy," Jessica said, but she smiled as she said it, so she didn't seem bitter about it.

"So are you an only child?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Must be nice," Dean said, throwing a smirk at Sam.

"Kind of lonely actually."

There followed an awkward pause, and then Jessica started asking questions about Sam as a child. Dean was more than happy to supply the most embarrassing ones. Oddly, Sam didn't mind. He liked seeing them together. It was liking bringing his two worlds together.

Sam remembered it was 10:00 when the demon came for Jessica. At 9:30, Jessica left the room and Sam suggested to Dean, "You should keep watch from outside."

Dean was hurt. Sam obviously wanted nothing to do with him. He had hardly spoken all night. Well, that wouldn't stop him from protecting him. He went outside to keep vigil.

10:00 came and went. Jessica had taken a shower and was already ready for bed. Maybe the demon wasn't going to come if he was here. He had removed the salt from the door, but not the devil's trap.

"You should come to bed. You have that interview first thing in the morning," Jessica said.

"OK, I'll grab a shower first," Sam said. He had no intention of showering, but he would turn the water on and keep vigil.

Azazel stood outside of Sam's apartment. He wasn't sure what had happened to Brady. It looked like he was going to have to do this himself. He opened the door and walked in.

"Who are you?" Jessica asked. This time she knew the door was locked. How did people keep getting in here?

"None of your concern," he said and tried to fling the girl across the room. Nothing happened. He bent over to lift up the rug. Just as he suspected a devil's trap.

Sam came out into the living room just then. He closed his eyes and put his hand in front of him, concentrating.

"What are you doing, Sam?" Jessica asked.

"How are you doing this?" Azazel gasped. He flicked his eyes yellow in his torment. He hadn't felt this much pain since he was human and dying.

Dean came bursting into the room. He had known something was happening. The radio in his car got all staticky and his watch had stopped. He stared in confusion as he watched the man, demon he assumed, glow red, gasp and fall down, apparently dead.

"What did you do, Sammy?" Dean asked.

When had he come in? Sam wondered. "You wouldn't understand."

"What's going on?" Jessica asked. "Did you kill him?"

"Jess…," Sam began, but didn't have any way to explain.

Jessica ran in the bedroom and closed the door. She would have ran out, except that she was in her pajamas, and a dead body and Sam's brother were blocking the door.

"How did you do that, Sam?" Dean asked more insistently.

"It's over, Dean. That's all that matters. That was the demon that killed Mom. It's over." Sam went to the bedroom door and knocked softly. He had to see if he could salvage his relationship with Jessica. But even if he couldn't, at least she was alive.


	5. Wish back

Dean rang the bell at Wes's house. Hope answered the door. "Hi, we're the florists, your fiancé called us."

"Wes, you didn't tell me you called the florists," Hope said in mock anger. Wes was the best.

"Let me go get my book," Hope said and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Aren't you the health inspectors?" Wes asked, remembering them from the restaurant earlier.

"Yeah, and florists, FBI agents, and teddy bear doctors," Dean replied.

Teddy bear doctors? Sam didn't quite get that reference. He wondered if it was code for something dirty.

"I'm thinking something Japanesey, zen gardeny," Hope said, coming back in the room.

"So, tell us, Hope, how did you two meet?" Dean asked. Sam wasn't being much help. The touchy-feely thing was usually his part. He hadn't said a word since they got here.

"Best day of my life. We had lived in the same town all of our lives, but I had never really noticed him before. Then one day, I looked up, he was there and I just knew that I loved him more than anything else."

"That's great," Sam said, finally joining the conversation. That was how he felt the first time he saw Jessica. Too bad she apparently hadn't felt the same way. He would miss her. He certainly didn't want to destroy this love.

"Yeah, great," Dean said, shooting Sam a look, wondering what he was thinking.

"Hope, could you make us some coffee?" Wes asked.

Hope left the room, but unbeknownst to Sam and Dean remained in earshot.

"I see you're a coin collector. Did you lose one recently, and by lose I mean use it to make a wish?" Dean asked.

"Maybe," Wes said, not seeing the point in lying. These guys obviously knew. There was no way they just came here and haphazardly guessed that.

"Well, now you're going to wish it back," Dean said in a tone that Sam knew as meaning business.

"Yeah, right. Very funny," Wes said. He noticed that Dean didn't seem to be joking. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are. I have a gun and if you don't come with us, I'll shoot you," Dean said, opening up his jacket to reveal his gun.

Sam was stunned. Their father had never allowed them to threaten people.

Wes got up and preceded them out the door. Dean ushered him into the back seat of the car. He and Sam got in front.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Wes whined. "Why shouldn't I get what I want."

"He has a point, Dean. I don't see what's so bad about him being able to be happy. Hope's happy, too, so it's not hurting anyone," Sam said, wondering why he hadn't just wished for Jessica to love him back, instead of forgetting.

"Stuff like this comes with a price tag," Dean said, frustrated at Sam's attitude.

"I wished that Hope would love me more than anything. What could be wrong with that?"

"How's that working out for you? Does that seem healthy?" Dean asked.

"It beats when she didn't know I existed," Wes pointed out.

"But it's not just you. Everyone's wishes are coming true. This town is going off the rails," Dean said.

"Where is all this mayhem you're talking about?" Wes asked, not convinced.

Sam wasn't entirely sure he saw the problem either. What could possibly be wrong with wishes coming true.

Sam and Wes were both answered when they saw a little kid knocking over an SUV with other kids in it. "Kneel before Todd! Kneel before Todd!" he screamed.

"Well, I think that qualifies as mayhem," Dean said. He got out of the car. "Get him to the well. I'll take care of this."

Sam had to concede maybe Dean was right. At least he would soon find out what he was trying to forget. He had a feeling there was more to it than Dean was letting on.

Wes got out of the car. "Do I have to do this?" he asked. This guy seemed more sympathetic to his cause than the other guy.

"I'm afraid so," Sam said, as he was hit by lightning and fell to the ground dead.

"What are you doing, Hope?" Wes asked. Had his wish really turned this sweet, beautiful, perfect woman into a murderer?

"I couldn't let you wish our love away. I had to stop it," Hope said crying.

"It's going to be OK, Hope," Wes reassured her. He hugged her and bent down to retrieve the coin and end the wishing.

The earth seemed to shake. Hope said, "Do I know you?" and walked out. She looked around in confusion. How had she gotten there?

Sam woke up, and stood up. He was back to the present time. He had saved Jessica. "What's going on?" he asked Wes when he walked out. He recognized him as the geeky guy with the hot girl. He and Dean had been pretty sure he was a wisher. "I wished the coin back. All the wishes are cancelled," he said sadly. He watched Hope walk away and knew she was out of his life forever.

Sam had been hoping he just shot forward after he had accomplished his goal, but now he realized his wish was cancelled. Jessica was still dead.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Sam, are you coming?" Jessica called from the living room.

Sam felt like he had just been somewhere else, but he couldn't remember where. That made no sense. "Do I have to?" he asked.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Hey, Sam, did you get your memory back?" Dean asked when he met back up with Sam in his hotel room.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"You wished you would forget the last three years," Dean explained.

"How lame would that be? That's not what I wished for."

"Yeah, it was Sam. I've been hanging out with a clueless Sam the last two days."

"I wished that I could go back and stop everything. And I did. I killed the Yellow-Eyed Demon right before he killed Jess. But then I ended up back here. And she's still dead," Sam had to bite back the tears. He had been so close.

"Sorry, Sammy," Dean said. He meant it, but he didn't know what he could have done differently. Then something occurred to him. "How did you kill the demon?"

Sam thought quickly. "Went to Colorado and stole the Colt from Elkins."

"That was good thinking."

"Doesn't matter. It didn't work."

Dean remained silent. There was nothing he could say. Sam had just got to spend two days with Jess which he probably loved, but it was like he lost her all over again.

Sam knew one thing for sure. He had to start drinking demon blood again. It would make him strong and he could stop the next bad thing from happening. Dean wouldn't approve, but when he stopped the Apocalypse from happening, he would forgive him.

The End


End file.
